Top-secret facility's signal disrupting garage doors
Air Force, Springs homeowners using same frequency
Robert Weller, Associated Press
Saturday, December 2, 2006
Holly Strack hopes that her remote-control garage door opener isn't a national security threat, but it quit working this week when a top-secret Air Force facility in Colorado Springs began using the same frequency for homeland security.
Hundreds of other door openers were also affected until the Air Force shut down the signal.
Capt. Tracy Giles of the 21st Space Wing said the Air Force plans to use the frequency to communicate with first-responders in the event of a homeland security threat.
"They have turned it off to be good neighbors. The experts are taking a look at what to do," he said.
An estimated 50 million garage door openers use the frequency, although technically the Air Force has the right to it.
The Air Force began using the frequency nearly three years ago at some bases, and there were conflicts in some areas, but mostly only during initial testing, according to a fact sheet from the Pentagon.
In general, effects from the transmissions would be felt only within 10 miles, but the Colorado Springs signal is beamed from atop 6,184-foot Cheyenne Mountain, which probably extends the range.
"I never thought my garage door was a threat to national security," said Strack, who lives near the entrance to Cheyenne Mountain Air Station, south of Colorado Springs.
"I called all my friends, and they had the same problem. My husband just retired from the Air Force so we had a pretty good idea what was going on."
More seriously, she said, "I hope we haven't caused any problems with our nation's security."
David McGuire, whose Overhead Door Co. operation had more than 400 calls for help, said that technicians knew right away that a military signal caused the problem.
"I had personal friends from the North American Aerospace Defense Command call me because they couldn't get in their homes - a lot of people never use the front door," McGuire said.
The Air Force may be able to adjust the transmission frequency slightly to solve the problem, he said. If not, it will cost homeowners about $250 to have new units installed.
"If it's for security, people are willing to put up a little money and they will feel good about it," he said.
"The military has the right to use that frequency. It is a sign of the times. People need to understand."
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